The present invention relates to the field of COMINT/ELINT (Communications Intelligence/Electronic Intelligence) signal processing, and more particularly to the detection of RF pulses, regardless of the frequencies associated therewith.
Discontinuous waveforms are often referred to as RF pulses even though the frequencies associated therewith are not limited to the conventional radio frequency bandwidth. Each RF pulse contains waveforms in a very narrow band of frequencies and therefore, many different RF pulses could exist within a broadband of frequencies. Although RF pulse detection is well known in the signal processing art, difficulties are encountered when frequency analyzers are utilized for such detection. The operation of most frequency analyzers is focused on a particular frequency or narrow band of frequencies and to obtain broadband RF pulse detection therewith requires that a plurality of such analyzers be utilized. Dynamic Chirp-Z frequency analyzers do operate to present a transform containing waveforms over a significant bandwidth, in a frequency segregated time domain. The operational bandwidth of such analyzers is determined by the frequency sweep or dispersion of an expansion filter therein. The time taken for this sweep is generally much greater than the duration of RF pulses and the gain inherent to such Chirp-Z transforms drops off in proportion with the difference existing therebetween. Consequently, dynamic Chirp-Z frequency analyzers are more responsive to RF pulses of long duration or those having wide pulse widths. Other frequency analyzers are more responsive to RF pulses of short duration or those having narrow pulse widths.